ACA Inuagural Show 31/3/12

I headed down to Grafton yesterday for the first ACA show. Dragged all five boys along with me and we did quite well.

Pipsqueak Sterling got a first in the clipped longhair class but no BOB because he was missing his curls/kinks.

Pipsqueak Fortinbras got...
3rd in Fastest Eater
2nd in Best Condtioned
2nd in Rosetted
And Ugliest Pet in Show

Pipsqueak Feather was entered in numerous pet classes and finished with...
3rd in Fastest Eater
3rd in Prettiest Pet
3rd in Rosetted Pet
1st in Fluffiest Pet
And Reserve Pet in Show

Symphonia Laertes went into his pedigree class and won a BOB and BIG.

Pipsqueak Edmund went into his pedigree class and won BOB, BIG, Best Baby in Show and Reserve in Show. As well as an Encouragement Award

Show time!

Clearly when life gets hectic it gets much harder to keep up a blog...

Right now in the next nine days I have a law assessment, a psychology oral assessment, a psychology mid term quiz and a pig show. The pigs have been really great help with the procrastination side of things....

So for the show I have discovered that there will be nearly twenty pet classes and a clipped longhair class in the pedigree section. Sooo... assuming I'm ever sent the entry form this is what I'm thinking...

Symphonia Laertes who will be just three months will go in the black dalmatian pedigree class and the senior handler.

Pipsqueak Sterling who will be ten months will go in the clipped long class and maybe the senior handler.

Pipsqueak Edmund will be just on five months and will go in the texel class and the senior handler.

Pipsuqeak Fortinbras who will be five months will go into as many pet classes as I possibly can enter him in.

Pipsqueak Feather who will be eight months (only two days off of nine months LOl) will go in every pet class I can stick him in.

So I've been slowly getting everyone ready. Eddie and I had a major disagreement over his wraps resulting in a small chunk of two inch hair but he seems to have settled into the new wraps which are looser and set much lower. So he's never going to win a show but I can still show him. At first he was rolling every time I tried to stick a wrapper in and screaming his head off, but he's gone back to his usual placid self now.

La-La continues being a miracle pig and laid down and purred while I stripped his guard hairs. Now every night while we watch TV I get him out and slowly tweezer him so his spots are pretty and clear. Hopefully he'll be all pretty in time for the show.

Sterling is learning what a comb is. I can't say he's fond of it but oh well. I'm neatened up his hairdo and he looks rather gorgeous if I do say so myself.

The sheebies have been washed again. I suddenly remembered using detergent on a DEW I used to own so I tried it on the shebas and it worked wonders. I then followed it with their whitening shampoo and they look utterly gorgeous.

So everyone will be washed on Friday so they are as pretty as possible for the show, and nails clipped etc. I'm really looking forward to it though. I do so love piggy shows. Hopefully this time I'll remeber my camera so I can snap some pics!

Just a Quickie....

Juts a quick update for the time being as life remains as hectic as ever.

Edmund had a slight mishap and had a go at one of his wraps. There's a few short pieces of hair now but the rest of his coat is intact. I'm not particularly fussed. I don't expect Eddie to be a great or even good show pig. In someone else's hands he probably could be but he's my first long, so we're still feeling our way. But as long as the majority of his coat is still in tact I'll keep showing him for as long as possible.

Speaking of shows I'm planning to attend the ACA's inaugural show which should be the first or second week of April (I hope, I'm not sure if the dates have been confirmed yet), I'll be taking Feather, Fortinbras, Edmund, Laertes and Sterling as well as Rosie if she's qualified (she won't be three months till the 44th). Then I'll be at the Gosford show in the first weekend if May, I'm planning on taking Edmund, Laertes, Rosie and Sterling. Then the June QBS show which will be Edmund and Laertes and two pets again. I'm considering on attending the July NRCS show as well, but need to convince my mother she absolutely wants to do a ten hour round trip with me (LOL).

So in order to facilitate this I've been building a new carrier. It looks a bit Tim Burtonish wonky, but it is sound and just needs a paint and the hardware attached.

Soooo lots of shows planned.

In other news I'm 'fairly' sure that Ebbie was caught on the 24th of Feb, which means babies should be expected by the 5th of May. Since she's still a plump little miss she's spending 5-8 hours on the animal room floor every day to keep her moving and it does seem to be having an effect. Sterling, Feather and Fortinbras are also all fattening up nicely. Rosie and La-La are as plump as can be as well.

I'm still thinking I want to breed a litter from La-La later on as well, so I think in June I'll speak to a black/black roan breeder I greatly admire about purchasing a lil self black sow from her to purchase with La-La. Because hey if I don't get dallies I'll still get amazing self blacks.

Well that's about it, back to the grindstone of law school.

Well it's been a while since I posted. University is in full swing and I'm spending fifty hours a week just on the readings. I'm still also dealing with chronic migraines Add to that I won't be able to get to a show until May and the pigs have fallen a bit by the wayside. But I figured I'd give an update on how they're all doing.

Eddie is at fat as ever and his wraps are holding really well now there's four inches of coat on him. I'm finding the wraps only need to be done every few days as needed which both Eddie and I are appreciating. Ebbie is on the wrong side of obese. I keep reminding her that at best she's nine days pregnant and isn't allowed to be fat yet, but she's not listening. Seriously though she was on heat on the 24th and I'm fairly certain that Sterling did the deed. If not she'll come back into heat between the 7th and the 13th of this month, or she may anyway if she has a false cycle or one uterine horn is empty. Her heftiness is worrying me as I really really don;t want to court toxemia so she's spending 4-5 hours everyday on the floor of the animal room running around. She absolutely loves the space and runs and popcorns for hours so I'm confident she'll at least be able to avoid toxeamia if I keep this up through the pregnancy. Sterling on the other hand is still very light on, so while Ebbie is on the floor Sterling gets a bowl of lupins, formula 3 and oats to munch on in the hopes it'll help boost his weight. Sterling's such a character though, I've totally fallen in love with him.

La-La spends his life in a cozie emerging occasionally to eat and also to popcorn madly at dawn and dusk. Otherwise his life is quite sedate and he completes ignores Eddies heckling from next door. His lifestyle means he's rapidly gaining weight and he'll clearly be one of those enormous hefty boars you see on the show table. There's definite advantages to having self blacks in your heritage. Rosie also is rather fat though clearly very very bored with the solitary life. As soon as I'm certain Ebbies preggers she'll move in with her which should help liven her up a bit. The sheba boys as always are as happy as larry living in their own little sheba worlds. They are still total grots and the search for a true whitening conditioner continues but they are happy and healthy. A bit light on still but I'm fairly sure thats just because they are incredibly active animals. They don't sit and contemplate their pellets like La-La does.